Archive for November 8th, 2011

British auction giant, Allsop and its Irish partner, Space has today published its catalogue for the 30th November, 2011 auction, its fourth and biggest so far with 110 lots presently set to come under the hammer. The catalogue can be viewed online here. There will be analysis here tomorrow, but a quick shifty through the lots gives the impression that the maximum reserves – the price above which the property will definitely be sold, which may be reduced between now and the day of the auction – are keener than previously. This may be a reaction to the surprising number of unsold lots at the last auction in September 201 1 – Allsop Space has established itself as Ireland’s most successful property auctioneers and there is evidence that they want to hold onto that number 1 position.

UPDATE: 9th November, 2011. The 110-lot auction on 30th November 2011 is understood to be the largest ever in the Irish Republic. Allsop Space attribute the high number of lots to an increasing appreciation by sellers of true market prices. The lots are a mixture of foreclosed and “free-range” sales. Robert Hoban, Director of Auctions at Allsop Space LLP said “the vendor profile is again a broad mix of private and receivership clients, as the auction process evolves and normalises into an efficient and straight forward alternative, available to anybody wishing to sell their property, once priced sensibly”

So what about the properties themselves. In general the yields, that is the annual rent divided by the value of the property represented by the maximum reserve, are what investors might term “tasty” ranging from to 8% – 26% (actually the top yield is 60% on a commercial premises in Waterford but the catalogue notes the tenant is presently pay a rent which would give a yield of 26%) – I would advise caution on residential and indeed commercial yields at present. It is not clear where the €700m social protection cuts that are set to be announced in Budget 2012 on 6th December will come from, but rental allowance has previously been mentioned by Minister Burton as a candidate for reduction. And whilst some might argue there is a division between rent allowance and private rents, I would observe that it is odd that private rents seem to have stayed flat since the start of 2010 and are at the same level as rent allowance. Also we are expecting any day now, according to previous statements by Minister Shatter, the legislation to address upward only rent review terms in legacy commercial leases and this legislation is likely to depress commercial rents.

They’re still flogging Liam Carroll’s apartments at Castleforbes Square. There a Paddy Shovlin/Fitzpatrick brothers’ apartment in the Beacon South Quarter. The most expensive property has a maximum reserve of €485k and is on Pembroke Road in Ballsbridge and accommodates a restaurant and apartment which together generate current rents to give you a 19% yield. The second most expensive property at €420k is an end-of- terrace period house in Rathgar, presently divided into bed-sits. The third most expensive property by reference to maximum reserve is a 1.6 acre site in Rathfarnham with planning permission for 32 homes, with the site presently having a nursing home. At the other end of the scale, there’s a €32,000 four-bed detached house in Donegal and a €25,000 apartment, also in Donegal. There’s a restaurant premises on Haddington Road in Ballsbridge formerly home to “Mangetu”. There are a few lots here which remained unsold at previous auctions – I see 8 Finglas Road in Glasnevin is back with a reserve of €125k compared with over €200k before.

When: 30th November, 2011 with pre-auction announcements from 10.45am and the first lot auctioned “precisely” at 11am. With 110 lots (plus/minus any changes on the day), I’d expect the auction to finish at about 5pm

Where: Shelbourne Hotel, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2

What: 112 properties, mix of foreclosed and owner-sales, vacant and tenanted, residential and commercial, Dublin and provincial but all in the Republic of Ireland (in fact it seems that the only county out of the 26 without any lot under the hammer is Monaghan)